Stay up to date

To say starting a business is hard is an understatement. It is awfully hard, frustrating, and nearly impossible. It is an extremely complicated and long process that starts with an idea, then goals and plans are added around the idea. And then plans are scrapped, replaced with better ones, or dismissed as totally implausible. Goals are changed, adjusted accordingly – depending on new ideas, realities, and resources.

The planning, strategizing, and blueprint part of starting a business is only about 20% of the work. The other 80% is tough, grueling, and mentally and emotionally rigorous physical toil. It will take a lot of courage, grind, dedication, and focus on going from hatching the idea to perfecting the business model.

And then you’re ready to launch!

A true entrepreneur will agree that being ready in business never happens. There is always something missing, something imperfect, and something that still needs working on. So, launching a business is more like taking the plunge. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a lifeguard ready or if your life vest is on, you just have to trust your gut and jump!

A business can never be prepared enough or ready enough. You can spend months and years of planning and preparing, but something will always come up – a better idea, a bigger challenge, or a new adversary! Waiting for the right moment can drown your business to irrelevance, a great idea to insignificance. Somebody else could launch a similar business, a new product can render yours worthless, or another technological advancement resolved the problem you are trying to address.

So, what’s stopping you from launching the company?

The website is not quite ready yet. The packaging is too lame, it needs redesigning. The marketing plan is not too convincing. I need to set up the logistics first. I don’t have enough funds!

There will always be reasons stopping you from launching the company. But, there are more reasons for you to take the leap. The only plausible reason holding you back is yourself. You are afraid – of the unknown, of failure.

Getting your business up and running is the ultimate test. It is the validation of your idea. It will be your justification to all nay-sayers, your redemption from all the hard work and sacrifices.
As the saying goes, the harbor is the safest place for a ship. But a ship sitting in the harbor is useless. Ships are meant to be on open seas, exploring, discovering, and making the impossible possible. Just like your startup.

What is the worst that could happen after you launch? Failure? Failure is just a sign on the roadmap to success. It could be an arrow to a different direction, a re-route to a better way, or just a reminder of your untapped and unrealized talents.
Everyone on all success list has suffered failure at some point in their life. So, whatever happens to your startup, you’re in good company.